The Old Man and the Golden Fish

(A Chinese Folk Tale)

Retold by Hoh Chee Bin

There was once an old man who liked fishing. He always
fished in a lake, which was near his house. One day, the old
man brought his fishing rod and fishing tackle and went out
to the lake to fish after he had eaten his dinner. When he
reached the lake, the sky was becoming dark.

There was a boat beside the lake. The old man used the
boat and rowed to the center of the lake. He began fishing
in the center of the lake. After a while, the old man fell
asleep. Suddenly, the old man woke up as his fishing rod was
shaking.

The old man pulled up the fishing rod and caught a fish.
To his surprise, the fish's body was covered with golden
scales. Even more surprising, it could talk to the old man.
"Can you let me go, please?" The fish begged the old man.
"No, I am going to eat you," The old man said. "Please! Let
me go. If you let me go, I will give a golden rope," the
fish said. "Golden rope? Is that true? How can I trust you?"
the old man asked. "You can put your fishing rod into the
lake and a few minutes after, you are going to get the
golden rope, " said the fish.

The old man listened to the fish and put the fishing rod
in to the lake. After he pulled up the fishing rod, he saw a
golden rope attached to the fishing line. The golden rope
must be very long the old man thought because he could not
see the end of the golden rope. The man was very happy and
he continued to pull up the golden rope. "Let me go now that
you have gotten the golden rope," said the fish . "No, I
won't let you go. I am going to sell you. I think someone
will pay a very high price to get you." The old man
said.

The man then put the fish into a container, which was
full of water. As the man was pulling up the golden rope,
his boat was sinking into the lake but he was too greedy and
still wanted to get all of the golden rope. Finally, his
boat sank completely into the lake, and the old man
died.